If the sixth Garbage album sounds like their debut’s cryogenically frozen twin it’s more to do with the fact that the four-piece emerged fully formed and battle-hardened in the early 1990s than any enduring stasis.
True, intervening releases have often tried too hard to capture the zeitgeist and Strange Little Birds is not without filler (Blackout is like The Cure on amphetamines, So We Can Stay Alive channels Muse's pompous rock) but Garbage just don't settle for rubbish.
Courtesy of Shirley Manson's brooding vocals (detailing past and present romantic relationships), melodies designed to get inside your brain and the usual impeccable production the hook-laden, radio-friendly Empty, Goldfrapp-esque If I Lost You and cutting Even Though Our Love Is Doomed confirm there's plenty left in the tank.
